Gerald Durrell covered in lemurs
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Me and the Other Animals
Gerald Durrell (Viking)
Conservationist Gerald Durrell’s first dog, Simon, was a coward. For the honey-colored cocker spaniel, a garden hose was as deadly as a neat cobra, and he once went into a nervous breakdown that lasted several days after accidentally bumping into a snowman.
It’s nuggets like this that make Durrell’s writing so compelling. As often anthropomorphized as the animal descriptions are, they combine keen observation and humor in a way that demonstrates his understanding of what makes animals tick and how to bring them to life on the page.
